Method of cleaning flues or the like which conduct producer gas



July 1, 194 7. A. R rss 2,423,157

METHOD OF CLEANING FLUES OR THE LIKE WHICH CONDUCT PRODUCERGAS Filed Nov. 5. 1942 '3 sheets-sheet 1 I nun!- I v A v I nbenioi- 57 FUJlllt R EI SS' By M25 Attorney A. REISS 2,423,1

METHOD OF CLEANING .FLUES OR THE LIKE WHICH CONDUCT PRODUCER GAS July 1, 1947.

Filed Nov 5. 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 7.

In venlor m R055 A. REISS 2,423,157.

METHOD OF CLEANING FLUES OR THE LIKE WHICH CONDUCT PRODUCER GAS July 1, 1947.

Filed Nov. 5. 1942' 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Inventor Fulkjt R EISS A ttorney means for removing Patented July 1, 1947 METHOD OF'CLEANING FLUES OR THE. LIKE 1 WHICH CONDUCT PRODUCER-GAS AugustReiss, London; England 7 Application November 5, 1942; Serial No. 454,692

In Great Britain November17,-.1941

'TClaims. l

The present invention relates to method and means for. cleaning .fiues; pipelines, valves or the likewhich conduct producer gas. In the specification and appended claims, under the term (producer gas shall be understood non-purified gas :which containstar products and/or other similarcombustible impurities,- and incombustible impurities such as dust. When the fiuesor the like areJinusegthe combustible and incombustib-le impurities are-deposited and choke the flues or the; like ifnot'zremoved.

"1It3iSZfan;0bjBCt' of the present invention to effect: the cleaning of fines, pipelines; valvesor the like which conduct producer gas in a simple and eflective? manner.

It :is another object'ot the present invention to" facilitate:theicleaning ofrthe .flues or'the like without itbeing necessary "to'shut' downand cool down the whole plant.

It is a: more specific: object of the invention to provide" a method and means for burning enicientlythe combustible impurities deposited in the fiues or the like to convert them intoash, and to remove the ash together with theiincombustible impurities such as dust in a simple way.

Other objects and advantages of theinvention you become apparent from the sub-joined detaileddescriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of example only, and in which- ""'Fig.' 1 shows adiagrammatic plan :view of a plant according to this invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through part of an underground flue for conducting producer gas;

' Fig." 3 is a section along Fig."

Fig. 4 is a sectionthrough part of an overhead flue for conducting producer gas;

Fig. 5 is a section along the line V--V of Fig. 4;

Figs. 6 and '7. illustrate in elevation and plan view an arrangement for removing :the ash and incombustible impurities from anwunderground flue;

' Figs 8 illustrates an overhead flue. showing the ash and the like therefrom;

vFig. 9v shows. an overhead flue and an underground fluehaving a common collector for the ash andithe like;

Fig; 10 shows :an arrangement in which a valve is provided in the flue and iscleaned in thesame manner as the flue, and

Fig. 11 :shows the valve of Fig. 10 -in'greater detail.

f rring first toYFig. 1, the numeral? l il'ldlthe line III-III of cates a-plant .for, generating producer gas. 'The plant I is connected to a furnace, boiler or a. similar consumer 2 ofthe producer gas by. means of a. flue or pipe line 3. provided with manholes 4 and explosion I doors. 8. In the flue or pipe line 3, groups. of: stationary. blowers 5 are providedat the bottom. of lowermost part of the flue .or pipe line; the blowersof each group being interconnected by. tubes 6 and connected to asteam supply valve 1-, and to. a compressed air supply valve 9, .A...chimney..|0.is connected by .meansof a duct 1 I to theconsumer 2 and may be disconnected therefrom .by means i of a damper .l l l. The chimney Hlis connected through a by-pass l3 to theflue 3-and may be disconnected therefrom-bye damper- I4. Further blowers l5 are provided .inthe-by-pass I 3- and are connected to asteamsupply-valve I6 anda compressed air supply valve I1. Steam can be fed to the steam-supplyvalves 1 and 46 from. acommon steam supply source Knot-shown) ,and compressed air can befed tothetcompressed air-supply valves Band I'tfrom amommon source (not shown) of compressed air. .The consumer 2. may bedisconnected from the flue. or pipe line 3 by means ofa damper I I2.

=.-In-.normaloperation of the plant, the manholes tand explosion doors 3 are closed, the damper I4 is :closedand the-damper H l. and H2 are more or. less opened according to requirements. Thereby the-chimney Ill communicates with the consumer 2= and; is disconnected from the by-passlS. Thus, producer gas can be freely conducted-from theplant I through theflue 3.to the consumer 2.

-When it is desiredto clean .the flue 3 at-least one. ofthe man-holes 4. and/ or one of the explosion doors 8 are opened;the.damper i4 is opened andthe dampers l H and H2 are shut so that the chimney l0 communicates with the by-pass l3 and thus'withthefiue 3. but is disconnected from .the.consumer...2 whichtin turn is disconnected iromithe .fl-ue 3. ...Steam .under pressure is fed to the blowers 5 and .l 5 throughthe steam supply .valves 1 and 16 respectively, and is blown. by the blowersnthronghthe flue 3,..theby-pass l3,.and np-theachimney l0. Thereby thedeposit composed.- of .tar andthelike and of the incombustible impuritiesin theflue 3 is stirred up. Atthe same .time, theblowerscreate an injector action whereby air in sufficient quantity is drawn intothefiue 3 through the manholes 4 and/ or explosion doors 8- and is mixed'intensively with the deposit oftar andthelike. By this action, the tar andthe like, which has a high "temperature, ignites, and is cornpletelyburnedandconverted into ash without leaving any combustible residue. Simultaneously with the burning the ash and other incombustible matter in the flue 3, is blown up the chimney l5, whereby the flue 3 is cleaned.

It will be appreciated that owing to the induced draught created by the blowers the burning is completely eflected within a few minutes.

Modifications of the arrangement and of the cleaning process just described are possible. For example, if it is difficult or inconvenient to open the manholes 4 and/or explosion doors 8, they may remain closed during the cleaning process. In this case, at least one of the groups of blowers s fed with compressed air through its compressed air supply valve 9 instead of with steam. Thus, compressed air and steam are simultaneously blown into the flue to create a draught therein, which enables the combustible matter to be stirred up and to burn without the necessity to admit outside air through manholes or the like. The dust and ash is blown up the chimney as before.

In any case the supply of steam may be interrupted after the deposit has been stirred up and ignited, and compressed air instead of steam may be blown through the flue to maintain the burning process. Still alternatively a mixture of steam and air may be blown through the flue. In any case, by properly adjusting the amount of steam and/r compressed air blown through the flue in a given time the burning can be slowed down so as not to overheat the walls of the flue if they are liable to be damaged by extensive heat, as is the case when they are made of steel.

Figs. 2 and 3 show detailed sections through a part of an underground flue for conducting producer gas. Numeral 4!] indicates the ground level, numeral 4| the wall of the flue, numeral 42 the stationary blowers arranged at the bottom of the flue and interconnected by tubes 43 which are covered by fireclay tiles 44. The tube 45 connects the tubes 33, and thus the blowers 42, to a steam supply valve 46 and to a valve 41 for supplying compressed air to the blowers 43. The tube 45 is covered by fireclay tiles 48. It will be seen that with this arrangement steam, or compressed air, or a mixture of both ma be blown through the flue by means of the same blowers, so that according to requirements in a particular case either steam, or a mixture of steam and compressed air, or only compressed air may be blown through the flue as described hereinbefore with reference to Fig. 1. In any case, the amount of steam and/or compressed air blown through the flue in a given time may be adjusted by the valves 46 and 4?, and thus the burning process may be eflectively controlled.

Figs. 4 and 5 show detailed sections through a part of an overhead flue for conducting producer gas. Numeral 5| indicates the wall of the flue, numeral 52 the stationary blowers arranged at the lowermost part or bottom of the flue and interconnected by tubes 53 which are covered by fireclay tiles 54. The tube 55 connects the tubes 53, and thus the blowers 52, to a steam supply valve 55 and a valve 51 for supplying compressed air to the blowers 52, which valves allow the burning process to be controlled according to requirements in the same way as explained with reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

It is not necessary for the ash and dust to be blown up a chimney as shown in Fig. 1. The ash and dust may be removed in many other ways. Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate, by way of example, such an alternative arrangement for removing closed by a damper 81.

the ash created by the burning process and the dust from an underground flue 6E! connecting a plant I for generating producer gas to a plurality of consumers 2. The stationary blowers arranged at the bottom of the main flue 50 are indicated by the numeral 6| and those in the branch flues Sill which connect the consumers 2 to the main flue 60 by the numeral 6H. The blowers are arranged in groups, the groups being supplied with steam and/ or compressed air through steam supply valves 62 and compressed air supply valves SZI by means of tubes 63. According to requirements, either all the groups may be supplied with steam, or all the groups may be supplied with compressed air, or at least one of the groups may be supplied with steam and at least one other with compressed air. A damper 6 3 normally separates the flue 69 from a pit 65, while dampers 64!, which are normally more or less open allow the consumers 2 to be separated from the branch flues Gill and thereby from the main flue 60. When it is intended to clean the flues 6i) and GUI the damper 64 is opened so that the pit 65 communicates with the flue 65 and the dampers 64! are shut. The blowers 6| and 6| I are operated and blow according to requirements, steam or compressed air or a mixture of both through the flues 60 and GM towards the pit 65. The deposit is thereby stirred up, ignited, and burnt in the manner hereinbefore described, and the ash and dust are blown into the pit 65 which is provided with a vent pipe 66 for equalizing the excess pressure which otherwise would be created in the pit by the action of the blowers 6| and 6| The ash and dust collected in the pit are subsequently removed therefrom in any convenient manner. They may, for example, be sucked off by a pump 61 connected to a suction nozzle 68, and may be collected outside the flue at ground level as indicated at 69 (Fig. 6). Alternatively, the pit 65 may be emptied manually from the outside.

In Fig. 8, an overhead flue or pipe line it is illustrated which connects a plant 1 for generating producer gas through a duct ml and a dust catcher 13 to a consumer 2. The dust catcher 13 is provided with a Vent pipe 78 which is normally closed by a damper 19. The stationary blowers arranged at the bottom of the flue are supplied with steam and/or compressed air through steam supply valves 12 and compressed air supply valves 12!. The damper i6 is normally open. When it is intended to clean the flue M, the damper 16 is shut and the damper 79 opened and steam and/or compressed air is blown by the blowers through the flue 10 towards the dust catcher 73, the vent pipe 78 which is now open preventing any excess pressure being created in the dust catcher '53 by the blowers. Thereby the deposit is stirred up, the combustible deposit is burnt and the ash and dust are blown into the dust catcher 73, which is emptied into a truck or the like 14.

Fig. 9 illustrates an overhead flue 85 and an underground flue 8|, connecting a plant for generating producer gas to a consumer 2. Each flue is provided with blowers 82 and 83 respectively which are stationary and arranged at the bottom of each flue in groups and supplied with steam and/or compressed air through steam supply valves 34 and MI and compressed air supply valves 85 and BM. The overhead flue 8G and the underground flue 8| are connected to a common ash and dust collector 88. The dust collector is provided with a vent pipe 86 which is normally To clean the flues and 8 eidamper 811 s osen dandzth blowers 82 and,.83 are actuated, to blow steam and/o compressed through helfh ssfifi drlin hetdust coll t 8. h vent-p pe 86,. wh c is,now.open prevents any excesspressurebeing createdinthe dust collectoriiafby thexblowers. Thereby,;t he' deposit in the fines is stirred, ,up,.the combustible deposit is burnt, and the ash .and dust are blown into the collector .88. lmtheflue 80 theblowingis done in thes me direction as the producer gas normally flows, while,in the flue, Blit is done in the direction opllfified to themormal gas flow. A door-,orthe 1ike,B3.,enables'the ash and dust to be removed from the collector B8.

In Fig. 10, a plant I for gas is connected to a consumer .2 by means of an overhead flue 9B and an underground flue 9|. In the flue 90 at the bottom thereof stationary blowers 93 are provided. The flue 90 may be opened at 94 to admit air from the outside. Between the flues 9i! and SI a valve generally denoted by numeral 95 is interposed for regulating the flow of producer gas. The valve 95 includes a valve member 96 (see also Fig, 11) which may be displaced from its raised, open, position into the position 96!, indicated in Fig. 11 in dashed lines, in which position the valve is completely shut. A shutter '91 allows the valve casing to be opened so that the interior of the valve may communicate with the outside air. Normally the shutter 91 is closed. One or several blowers 98 are provided within the valve and allow steam and/or compressed air to be blown through the valve. When it is intended to clean the flue 90 and the valve 95, the flue is opened at 94 and the valve at 91. For example, steam is blown by the blowers 98 and 93 through the valve 95 and the flue 90. Air is drawn into the valve 95 and the flue 90 at 91 and 94 and an induced draught is created. Thereby the deposit in the valve and fine is stirred up, the combustible deposit is burnt, and the ash and incombustible deposit are blown out of the valve '95 and flue 9E, and are collected at 99 from where they can be removed through a door H30.

In all the arrangements described, if compressed air is blown through the flue, pipeline, valve or the like, preferably hot air is used in order to facilitate the burning of the combustible matter.

In the appended claims the expression flue shall also embrace a pipeline, valve and the like.

I claim:

1. A method for removing a deposit of combustible and non-combustible impurities from a flue having an outlet, comprising the steps of admitting a medium containing oxygen which is available for combustion to the flue, stirring up and loosening the deposit of impurities by forcing a gaseous fluid through the space occupied by said deposit, causing a mixing of said gaseous fluid with said oxygen containing medium, burning within the flue the combustible impurities in the presence of said oxygen containing mixture thus obtained and converting said combustible impurities into ash, and blowing said ash and the non-combustible impurities out of the flue by forcing the gaseous fluid toward the outlet in the flue.

2. A method for removing a deposit of combustible and non-combustible impurities from a flue having an outlet, comprising the steps of admitting a medium containing oxygen which is available for combustion to the flue, stirring up generating producer andlooseningthedeposit of impurities byforcing a-gasepus iluidthrough the space occupied by said deposit alongsubstantially the entire length of theg fine -causing a mixing of said gaseous fluid =with;said-0 ygen containing medium, burning within the flue the combustible-impurities in the presence-of-said oxygen containing mixture thus obtainedand converting said. combustible impurities into ash, and blowing said ash and thenon-combustible impurities out of the flue by forcing the gaseous fluid toward the outlet in the flue.

..3.:A;method,1f0r removi g a p s t f c mbustible and non-combustible impurities from a flue having an outlet, comprising the steps of admitting outside air to the flue, stirring up and loosening the deposit of impurities by forcing a gaseous fluid through the space occupied by said deposit, causing a mixing of said gaseous fluid with said outside air, burning within the flue the combustible impurities in the presence of said mixture of gaseous fluid and outside air thus obtained and converting said combustible impurities into ash, and blowing said ash and the noncombustible impurities out of the flue by forcing the gaseous fluid toward the outlet in the flue.

4:. A method for removing a deposit of combustible and non-combustible impurities from a flue having an outlet, comprising the steps of admitting a medium containing oxygen which is available for combustion to the flue, stirring up and loosening the deposit of impurities by forcing steam through the space occupied by said deposit, causing a mixing of said steam with said oxygen containing medium, burning within the flue the combustible impurities in the presence of said oxygen containing mixture thus obtained and converting said combustible impurities into ash, and blowing said ash and the non-combustible impurities out of the flue by forcing the gaseous fluid toward the outlet in the flue.

5. A method for removing a deposit of combustible and non-combustible impurities from a flue having an outlet, comprising the steps of stirring up and loosening the deposit of impurities by forcing a gaseous fluid containing oxygen which is available for combustion through the space occupied by said deposit, burning within the flue the combustible impurities in the presence of said oxygen containing gaseous fluid and converting said combustible impurities into ash, and blowing said ash and the non-combustible impurities out of the flue by forcing the oxygen containing gaseous fluid toward the outlet in the flue.

6. A method for removing a deposit of combustible and non-combustible impurities from a flue having an outlet, comprising the steps of stirring up and loosening the deposit of impurities by forcing a mixture of steam and compressed air through the space occupied by said deposit, burning within the flue the combustible impurities in the presence of the compressed air of said mixture and converting said combustible impurities into ash, and blowing said ash and the non-combustible impurities out of the flue by forcing the mixture of steam and compressed air toward the outlet in the flue.

7. A method for removing a deposit of combustible and non-combustible impurities from a flue having an outlet, comprising the steps of stirring up and loosening the deposit of impurities by forcing a mixture of steam and compressed air through the space occupied by said deposit, burning within the flue th combustible impurities in the presence of the compressed air of said mixture and converting said combustible impurities into ash, adjusting the ratio of steam to compressed air in the mixture thereof so as to prevent overheating of the flue during the burning process, and blowing said ash and the non-combustible impurities out of the flue by forcing the mixture of steam and compressed air toward the outlet in the flue,

AUGUST REISS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Deacon Aug. 22, 1871 Redecker July 30, 1912 Gray Aug. 21, 1923 Russell June 22, 1926 Russell June 22, 1926 Wright Mar. 21, 1939 Henderson Nov. 14, 1882 Siemens May 2, 1899 Faber Mar. 27, 1900 Cagwin Dec. 29, 1925 Oakley Jan. 24, 1933 

